I Don't Know Where To Put This, But...

[Shockm]

This is a sports and baseball related topic, but not a Shocker one, so I'll put it here.

I'm just curious about the story behind the Valley Center baseball team's season being suspended because of a Team Animal Cruelty Story that includes the Coaching Staff. The Eagle story was extremely vague (yet serious), and had few details describing what the school or legal rules infractions/laws were broken. For there to be a consideration to suspend the season would include possible laws that were broken by baseball players, etc. It sounds extremely serious, and I just wondered if anyone had heard some of the general behind the scenes stories (not including names, etc.) on this issue.

https://www.kansas.com/sports/varsity-kansas/varsity-baseball/article287920615.html

[Kung Wu]

This is a sports and baseball related topic, but not a Shocker one, so I'll put it here.

I'm just curious about the story behind the Valley Center baseball team's season being suspended because of a Team Animal Cruelty Story that includes the Coaching Staff. The Eagle story was extremely vague (yet serious), and had few details describing what the school or legal rules infractions/laws were broken. For there to be a consideration to suspend the season would include possible laws that were broken by baseball players, etc. It sounds extremely serious, and I just wondered if anyone had heard some of the general behind the scenes stories (not including names, etc.) on this issue.

https://www.kansas.com/sports/varsit...287920615.html

It was posted in another thread that they killed a chicken as a sort of joke referencing Major League.

[Shockm]

It was posted in another thread that they killed a chicken as a sort of joke referencing Major League.

I guess that I didn't see what the entire story is (so I'm not sure the entire context), but while not a funny "joke", and likely deserving of some sort of discipline, I'm not sure that a chicken rises to the level of suspending the entire season. However, I guess an NFL QB was punished quite severely for his "cock fighting" incident, so probably some similarities. But OTOH, television game shows (Survivor) have shown chickens killed and cooked.

That the coaches might have known, and gone along with the "joke" is probably more alarming than the kids part.

[SubGod22]

I guess that I didn't see what the entire story is (so I'm not sure the entire context), but while not a funny "joke", and likely deserving of some sort of discipline, I'm not sure that a chicken rises to the level of suspending the entire season. However, I guess an NFL QB was punished quite severely for his "cock fighting" incident, so probably some similarities. But OTOH, television game shows (Survivor) have shown chickens killed and cooked.

That the coaches might have known, and gone along with the "joke" is probably more alarming than the kids part.

I don't know. Having the coaches and entire team sacrificing chickens on home plate definitely deserves action. That's not an appropriate school activity.

And the season is suspended pending the outcome of the investigation by police. Should it be resolved before the end of the season (only a couple of weeks) they could potentially play again. I don't expect that to happen regardless of the outcome of law enforcement.

[shocktown]

This should only be newsworthy if the deceased was a fellow student who identified as a chicken,

BTW, I heard the whistle blower is the head baseball coach.

At least they didn't skin a dog in a public park.

[SubGod22]

At least they didn't skin a dog in a public park.

You mean the guy who was grooming his dog?

[SubGod22]

KAKE - Doo-Dah Diner owner says she'll file charges after food theft

Images from security cameras at the Doo-Dah Diner in downtown Wichita show two women grabbing "take and bake" food items from a fridge at the front of the restaurant, and then getting in a car and taking off without paying.

Doo-Dah Diner posted the pictures on Facebook, hoping to get them identified and customers quickly helped the staff identify one of the women.

Owner Timirie Shibley said that the woman soon began sending messages to the restaurants account claiming Doo-Dah was tarnishing her reputation.

Shibley said that she wanted to forgive the woman for her actions.

"I said, you know, if you just came and did an apology, you know, apologize that it took accountability for your actions, that would be payment in full," Shibley said.

However, the woman continued to publicly slam the restaurant, and threatened a lawsuit.

Shibley said that she plans on filing charges against the woman.

The thief, Vanessa Kirk, actually had the audacity to respond to the FB post (post has been taken down by Doo-Dah) that the picture of her stealing was ruining her reputation and she was going to sue Doo-Dah. Then she went on to claim that the food was horrible, even though one of the items she is seen stealing she claims she never got to try because it was gone before she did. Must not have sucked too much if it was devoured by her family/friends.

I'm also kind of surprised that Timirie was willing to forgive her if she just came back and apologized for her actions. The woman could be bothered and instead went on the attack and will now face charges. And she can't deny any of it. Not only is she on camera stealing it, she admits to taking it home and eating it as well.

I've seen claims that she has also posted comments about her IQ being smart. She's obviously not very sharp.

There's video/news coverage in the link where Timirie talks about it and shows the FB post responses from Miss Kirk.

[SubGod22]

Police are confirming that the allegations are of killing a chicken, which we all already pretty much knew. They apparently did this Saturday morning before heading to Circle for a double header against the Thunderbirds and Life Prep Academy.

Eagle - Kansas varsity baseball team accused of killing a chicken on field; season suspended

The Valley Center High School varsity baseball team is accused of killing a chicken on school grounds before traveling to an away game on Saturday, Valley Center police chief Lloyd Newman said.

The allegation was reported to the school’s resource officer by a high school employee on Monday, and the Valley Center School District suspended the team’s season amid an active law enforcement investigation.

In an email sent to Valley Center parents on Monday afternoon, the district said high school administrators were “alerted to an incident of possible animal cruelty involving the entire Hornet varsity baseball team and the entire coaching staff on USD 262 property.”

Newman said the field is on school property behind 737 N. Meridian in Valley Center.

[Shockm]

I don't know. Having the coaches and entire team sacrificing chickens on home plate definitely deserves action. That's not an appropriate school activity.

And the season is suspended pending the outcome of the investigation by police. Should it be resolved before the end of the season (only a couple of weeks) they could potentially play again. I don't expect that to happen regardless of the outcome of law enforcement.

Agreed. Appropriate action including police should be taken. If entire team involved, at least some of the season should be lost and police should be involved to determine if laws were broken. As I said, the coaches not stopping this “joke” is more alarming, than the kids on their own making stupid decisions. The coach or coaches may need to be replaced. I just wonder if some type of appropriate community service activities would be more educational for the kids as opposed to suspensions. We will see what the outcome is.

[Kung Wu]

I guess that I didn't see what the entire story is (so I'm not sure the entire context), but while not a funny "joke", and likely deserving of some sort of discipline, I'm not sure that a chicken rises to the level of suspending the entire season. However, I guess an NFL QB was punished quite severely for his "cock fighting" incident, so probably some similarities. But OTOH, television game shows (Survivor) have shown chickens killed and cooked.

That the coaches might have known, and gone along with the "joke" is probably more alarming than the kids part.

I won't make excuses for these baseball players, but if they are like most small town players then most likely nearly all of them have hunted many, many times and dispatched of many, many birds. So if they didn't torture the chicken prior to dispatching it, and then dispatched the chicken humanely as a hunter would, it's less problematic. If they were torturing it before dispatching it or dispatched it in some cruel way then it's pretty problematic.

Yes, this entire idea should have been squashed by coaches if they were aware of it, just based on optics alone. Any reasonable coach would have put a stop to it immediately.

Of course reasonable teachers would put a stop to all "furry" and cross-dressing behavior in schools too, but they don't seem to get punished for some reason.

[SubGod22]

I won't make excuses for these baseball players, but if they are like most small town players then most likely nearly all of them have hunted many, many times and dispatched of many, many birds. So if they didn't torture the chicken prior to dispatching it, and then dispatched the chicken humanely as a hunter would, it's less problematic. If they were torturing it before dispatching it or dispatched it in some cruel way then it's pretty problematic.

Yes, this entire idea should have been squashed by coaches if they were aware of it, just based on optics alone. Any reasonable coach would have put a stop to it immediately.

Of course reasonable teachers would put a stop to all "furry" and cross-dressing behavior in schools too, but they don't seem to get punished for some reason.

Word online is that it was not done in any sort of humane manner and it was instead beaten with a bat. Apparently players took turns hitting it.

These are just rumors for now, but they appear to be coming from people in VC who would be close to the situation and kids talk.

[shocktown]

You mean the guy who was grooming his dog?

Exactly, a nothing burger over blown story that wasted resources started by some busy body.

[SubGod22]

KAKE - Legal expert weighs in on penalties students may face for allegedly killing a chicken

The Valley Center Police Department is investigating a report it got about the Valley Center varsity boys baseball team killing a chicken on the baseball field April 20th before it left for an away game.

A legal expert says if a state prosecutor proves the teammates killed the chicken maliciously it would be a felony but if there is no malice found it would be a misdemeanor.

"Maliciousness generally means done with an evil mindedness. Or with a specific intent to do an evil deed without any justification whatsoever," explained defense attorney Dan Monnat.

This means if anyone who was involved can prove they had a justification for doing this, to use it as a food source, they wouldn't face any charges under the state's cruelty to animals statue.

He explains this is because it's not against the law to slaughter a farm animal for food. The question wouldn't be did the team eat the chicken.

"Is it an accepted means of slaughtering a farm animal for food consumption for it to be done on the home plate of a baseball diamond," he asked.

[Shockm]

There is no doubt that a law was broken, and the school will have to conduct an investigation. That's why it was a good idea to call police. However, that doesn't mean that the courts have to be involved in this incident. That would be up to police and D.A. Will the D.A. become involved in this "crime"?

There is no way that the "TEAM" were all equally involved in this incident. If any of the "ring leaders" on the team who led this exercise have a criminal history, they could receive some legal punishment with fines, probation, etc. But for the large majority of the team, in my totally non-lawyer, worthless, legal opinion, this will be handled with fines, parents, etc.at the most, if the courts get involved. There may be a community service component. However, if they had beat up a person, I would think that much more serious consequences would ensue.

malice /măl′ĭs/
noun
A desire to harm others or to see others suffer; extreme ill will or spite.

1. The intent to commit an unlawful act without justification or excuse.
2. An improper motive for an action, such as desire to cause injury to another.

One time when I was picking up my grandchildren from school, I remember seeing a 4th or 5th grade child picking up frogs (at least 3 or 4), and splatting them down on the cement sidewalk in front of their school. Was a "crime" committed? Sure. He was "killing" the frogs with malice. The school administration got involved, and my understanding is that a meeting ensued with parents/etc. Did the kid break a law? Sure he did, but the police and courts don't have to be brought in, every time an incident occurs.

[SubGod22]

There's a difference between a 10 year old kid and HS kids though as well.16+ year old kids have a much better ability to reason and know right from wrong. There's not going to be jail time, but it needs to be treated seriously and these kids need to know it's not just going to be brushed under the rug and there will be some level of consequences. A lot of community service for the kids needs to be involved as the punishment. I'd even say some level of probation for those most involved. Say something like no other animal related offenses over the next few years. Should they be involved with anything else, then much more serious repercussions.